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Gargoyle
11-05-2009, 02:11 PM
Duke has been picked to be a top six team by a number of publications (Lindy’s, Athlon, SN, AP, USA etc).

These rankings are in spite of the fact that Duke:

1. Lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament
2. Lost, via graduation:
a. 41.5% of its scoring
b. 36.7% of its rebounding
c. 41.0% of its assists
d. 42.5% of its steals
e. 38.6% of its minutes played
3. Does not return an all ACC player
4. Does not return a preseason all America candidate
5. Does not return a member of last year’s all ACC rookie team
6. Had 5 players undergo surgery following the 2009 season
7. Does not have a highly ranked incoming freshman class
8. Will play, arguably, the most difficult 2010 schedule in the nation.

I was wondering what your thoughts were (a) as to why the Devils are ranked so highly and (b) what kind of record you believe would constitute a very good to excellent result for 2010?

For me, 22-7 in the regular season, championship or runner-up in the ACC tournament and a spot in the sweet 16 would constitute a very good result. A trip to the Elite 8 would make it an excellent result.

mj2345
11-05-2009, 02:17 PM
I think the reason as why we are ranked so highly in these publications is because there are only two or three teams that have elite talent (Kansas, Mich St, Texas) and we are in that next wave. Plus we have a player of the year candidate in Singler and we are Duke. Last year has no impact on this years rankings.

jv001
11-05-2009, 02:20 PM
I think he was talking about our womens team. Go Duke!

Battierfan01
11-05-2009, 02:24 PM
I think the reason as why we are ranked so highly in these publications is because there are only two or three teams that have elite talent (Kansas, Mich St, Texas) and we are in that next wave. Plus we have a player of the year candidate in Singler and we are Duke. Last year has no impact on this years rankings.

MJ, I think that Gargoyle is talking about the Women's Basketball team in this thread.

Duvall
11-05-2009, 02:24 PM
I think the reason as why we are ranked so highly in these publications is because there are only two or three teams that have elite talent (Kansas, Mich St, Texas) and we are in that next wave. Plus we have a player of the year candidate in Singler and we are Duke.

I guess those reports of Singler's transformed body were truer than we thought.

Battierfan01
11-05-2009, 02:29 PM
I guess those reports of Singler's transformed body were truer than we thought.

Yeah I did hear someone say he looked bigger in the chest and that his hair was longer this year.

CameronBornAndBred
11-05-2009, 02:32 PM
I have no reason to believe we won't be very good, we have lots of talent, and experience. Joy Cheek and Keturah Jackson are the senior leaders, and both invaluable on the floor. With Crystal Thomas (6-4) and Allison Vernery (6-5) we have height that we can use at the same time. Karima Christmas and Jasmine Thomas both had good seasons last year that should only be better this time around. I'm really looking forward to seeing Vernery play, we've been missing a strong post presence since Bales left. (Not too say we aren't one of the toughest teams to beat underneath..we were last year). My biggest concern is our shooting. Not distance shooting but layups. We were gawd-awful in that department last year, so many shots missed from 5' and closer. Luckily we rebounded well, but when you take 3 shots to make it in once, it's too many missed opportunities. I think we'll have a great team this year, I'm excited to see how the sophomores have improved, as well as seeing the how the freshmen look.

jimsumner
11-05-2009, 03:05 PM
The two key players, IMO, are Joy Cheek and Jasmine Thomas. Thomas is poised to have a break-out season. She was pre-season first-team All-ACC and may well be a legit candidate for ACC POY. Can she be a scorer and a distributor, or does someone else have to take over at the point?

Cheek needs to provide some front-court scoring. She's displayed flashes of brilliance but has lacked consistency. She's a senior now, apparently in better condition. Does she have the focus and drive to dominate?

Gargoyle
11-12-2009, 10:19 PM
with my initial post. What I wanted to say was that it looked like most experts felt that Duke would be better this year than last year. Based on certain facts presented above, I am not sure I bought into this thinking and was looking for other opinions.

Upon further review, I see that this question has already been raised by The Chronicle

http://dukechronicle.com/article/point-counterpoint-blue-devil-women-better-last-year

However, I am still unsure as to where I come down on the issue.

Welcome2DaSlopes
11-12-2009, 11:48 PM
I think the reason as why we are ranked so highly in these publications is because there are only two or three teams that have elite talent (Kansas, Mich St, Texas) and we are in that next wave. Plus we have a player of the year candidate in Singler and we are Duke. Last year has no impact on this years rankings.

This has to be one of the funniest post i've read on DBR.

P.S. Shay is hott.


I wonder what our ranking will be next year with this Stud class coming in.

MHTorringjan
11-13-2009, 08:22 AM
with my initial post. What I wanted to say was that it looked like most experts felt that Duke would be better this year than last year. Based on certain facts presented above, I am not sure I bought into this thinking and was looking for other opinions.

Upon further review, I see that this question has already been raised by The Chronicle

http://dukechronicle.com/article/point-counterpoint-blue-devil-women-better-last-year

However, I am still unsure as to where I come down on the issue.

So, I will admit that particularly the loss of our starting inside players from last year is disconcerting, but Jim's points are good to consider. Jasmine is key to our team, and the emergence of some of the other players (KJ, Karima, and other players with names that don't start with K) is probably a factor.

Also, as the Chronicle pointed out, there may be the perception of addition-by-subtraction. To paraphrase their words, "We all loved Abby Waner, but we weren't particularly happy with her streaky shot and no-look passes out of bounds." Don't get me wrong, Abby was a consummate leader and representative of the university, but at times it felt like she was trying too hard to put it on herself, and was forcing her shot some. In the end, with the new talent that came in and the players that we kept, I think that the ranking is justified and hopefully, we can get an even higher one by the end of the year (not that rankings matter or anything ;) )

M.H.

MHTorringjan
11-13-2009, 08:31 AM
My biggest concern is our shooting. Not distance shooting but layups. We were gawd-awful in that department last year, so many shots missed from 5' and closer. Luckily we rebounded well, but when you take 3 shots to make it in once, it's too many missed opportunities.

^^^^^^^^

So, addressing that, we did look better in that department in the second exhibition. There were some bunny hops that were missed, but it did look like they worked on it during the summer. Hopefully, they won't be blowing open layups like last year.

M.H.

Duvall
11-15-2009, 04:23 PM
Midway through the second game, the answer appears to be voter error.

Indoor66
11-15-2009, 05:08 PM
Midway through the second game, the answer appears to be voter error.

What does that mean?

Duvall
11-15-2009, 05:09 PM
What does that mean?

It means that Duke doesn't look anything like the #6 team in the country, and the voters erred in selecting them as such.